Chapter thirty nine

"Are we going to talk about everything, or continue to ignore the elephant in the room until it tramples us?"

Amirah entered Sinbad's office without knocking, standing tall and speaking clearly and angrily after a moment of silent surprise from Sinbad and Ja'far. She held her head high and crossed her arms as she waited for Sinbad's response, her face burning dark red.

To Sinbad and Ja'far, it looked like Amirah had barged into the office angrily demanding Sinbad talk with her, when in reality Sharrkan had "gently" pushed the princess into the slightly ajar office door after riling her up, forcing her to confront the king now just two days before her departure.

"Uhm...should I leave you two alone?" Ja'far was the first to speak, glancing between the royalties in confusion.

Her demanding demeanor cracking, Amirah shifted her feet, eyes drifting to the ground then back up at Ja'far as she said, "If you would, Ja'far..."

Glancing at Sinbad for confirmation, Ja'far realized the king was just as lost, giving the general a simple shrug. Ja'far turned back to his work, neatly stacking the papers and placing his quill down. Then he stood to leave, looking over Amirah as he went.

She was clearly embarrassed, averting her gaze and lowering her crossed arms sheepishly. Her actions led Ja'far to believe someone had forced her to confront the king, and so began Ja'far's search for the culprit.

It really didn't take long.

"Sharrkan!" Ja'far hissed, trying to remain quiet, "what are you doing?!"

"She needed to talk to him eventually!" The Heliohaptian general defended himself, also keeping his voice low as he stood from his crouched position on the ground outside of Sinbad's office door.

"So you forced her to talk to him?!"

"I did! I thought it'd be good for them, and besides, I wasn't the only one! Everyone else thought so too!" Sharrkan jerked a thumb behind him, pointing around the corner.

Ja'far followed his gesture, gawking as he watched the other generals come out of hiding. "All of you?! Are you serious?"

"Sharrkan's right," Drakon spoke, surprising Ja'far even more, "King Sinbad and Princess Amirah need to talk about everything before she leaves."

Hinahoho agreed, "It's unhealthy for them to act the way they are with each other. It'll only make matters worse when the ship leaves for Askal."

"They're not even officially together, how did all of you know?"

"It's obvious!" Pisti spoke. "Even Spartos noticed the way they look at each other!" The other generals nodded in agreement.

"Aren't you worried this'll only make matters worse?" Ja'far asked. "They've argued over this topic before, and with the added pressure it might not end well."

"That's true..." Yamraiha admitted quietly.

The others thought it over, Pisti the first to come up with a "solution". "Well, we'll just have to watch and find out!" She ran forward, but Ja'far easily grabbed her and stopped the small girl in her tracks.

"No. We are not eavesdropping on them. Let's just wait until they come to dinner to see what happens." Ja'far decided, not letting Pisti's shirt collar go.

Pouting, Pisti sighed and muttered, "Alright..."

~

"What was that about, Amirah?"

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be so upfront in front of Ja'far but Sharrkan-" Remembering her younger sibling Amirah paused, reminded of how the former prince had purposefully annoyed her just to point her rage at Sinbad. "I think Sharrkan was trying to get me to argue with you."

"Really?" Sinbad almost sounded amused as he watched Amirah behind folded hands. "Well, I do agree with what you said when you came in- we need to discuss this."

Amirah took a step forward, taking a seat across from the king. "What are we going to do?"

"I could renegotiate with the king of Askal, for starters," Sinbad spoke.

Amirah sighed, her annoyance already creeping up on her once again. "You know what I meant, Sinbad."

"I'm serious, Amirah. I don't want you to leave Sindria, especially if Al-Thamen is after you. I'm sure King Alexandros would understand that."

"Don't treat me like a child, Sinbad, you know it's exactly why I'm doing this. I can handle myself."

Sinbad shifted, clenching his jaw in annoyance. He knew she'd react like that. "I'm not. I care about you, Amirah, that's all. Nevermind the fact that I'd rather not see you married off to some child."

"It's not up to you to decide, Sinbad," Amirah said, though she considered his words.

"Why are you making this so difficult?" Amirah had succeeded in making Sinbad angry, though it really wasn't her intention. Looking at the king Amirah could see he'd thought up an entire rant to throw at her, yet didn't voice it, instead shaking his head and sighing. "You know what? Fine. Go to Askal, marry yourself off to some kid, and live your life with him instead of me. There's clearly no stopping you."

Was it reverse psychology or was Sinbad being genuine? Amirah couldn't tell. He continued:

"I'm tired of trying to convince you to stay. Zaahira's given up, and so haven't the generals, so evidently I should as well."

Amirah paused, thinking his words over, and growing more and more annoyed as she did so. Standing, Amirah demanded, "What are you saying? This isn't like you at all!"

Sinbad huffed, "That's exactly what you wanted to hear, isn't it?" He stood, matching her pose. "What do you want from me if not for me to agree with you? I don't understand, Amirah, and I'm done playing. If you're going to leave, just go. Stop trying to make it more painful than it already is."

Amirah froze, realizing just how confusing and complicated she was making things. She didn't even know what she wanted herself, nevermind others understanding it. She wanted to go, she didn't the moment Sinbad spoke. She disagreed with Sinbad, she agreed the moment he made a valid point. Everything was so difficult for her to choose between but she knew there wasn't time to be indecisive anymore.

This was the end of it. This was Sinbad choosing for her. And it hurt.

He was angry, and had good reason to be. Amirah was playing with his emotions by switching between loving him and fulfilling her duties as a princess. What right did she have to be angry with him? She didn't. She'd realized her mistake, and was reluctantly willing to take whatever punishment was given, yet she still asked, in a quiet, broken, tone:

"You'll come to the wedding at least, won't you? I don't want to do it alone."

The same question had received support from both Sharrkan and Zaahira, but Amirah knew it wouldn't work the same that time. This time it was weak, a last ditch effort to hold on to their relationship, whatever frail strands of it were left. She knew now that Sinbad had plans to tell her he was done from the very beginning of the conversation- there was no fixing things now.

"You'll be fine on your own, won't you? You said it yourself."

Snap.

Amirah should have expected Sinbad to throw her words back at her like that. She let her gaze fall to the carpeted floor, unsure what to do. She was still for a few moments, then raised her head to glance at Sinbad. He was hurt, clearly, but his expression was still stern, telling her he wasn't kidding. Oh, how she wished in that moment she could have seen him smiling and with bright eyes instead of the heartbroken look in his eyes. His genuine anger and sadness would be the last expression she saw on him, and just that thought alone was enough to make Amirah regret nearly everything she'd done since she was released from her captors.

And speaking of her captors, little did Amirah know she was in for a huge surprise the second she'd set foot in Askal.

~

Author's Note-

'Oh, Calamity!' by All Time Low @ top of chapter to make you feel things~

the first lines fit v well

most of the song fits in fact

I also love ATL to death so it's no surprise I found a way to fit it in here xD